Monthly Archives: September 2012

Instead of asking a man to pay his wife for her domestic work, the state must create jobs for women outside the home in order to truly empower them

Recently during a press conference called by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Krishna Tirath, proposed the formulation of a bill through which a certain percentage of a husband’s salary would be compulsorily transferred to his wife’s bank account to compensate her for all the domestic work she performs for the family. According to the Minister, this percentage of husbands’ salaries would not be taxed and would provide women the much needed source of income to run the household better, and more importantly, to spend on her own, personal consumption. In a later clarification, the Minister identified this payment as an “honorarium” and not a salary which is to be paid to wives for all the services they otherwise render for free.

This proposition has not gone down well, especially with women of higher income brackets who see such proposed action as unnecessary intervention in the realm of the private, i.e. the realm of familial relations. Many such women also believe that this government intervention amounts to reducing wives into “glorified maids” who need to be paid every time they walk into the kitchen, wash the baby, sweep the house, etc. Sadly, what is sidelined amid all the clamour and jokes about commercialisation of the mia-biwi relationship is the necessity of recognising the back-breaking work performed by women to sustain their families. Of course, what we also lose sight of is the sheer hollowness of such proposed legislation. For example, such legislation, if implemented, would not provide women a source of income which they earn independently of their husbands. Instead, women would continue to depend on their husband’s earnings and employment status, and thus, remain dependent on the family structure for their individual financial sustenance.Indeed, the problem with the proposed legislation is not that it is unnecessary and demeaning, but that it is informed by a poor understanding of economics surrounding household work and women’s labour in general. Clearly, the question then is whether the Indian state is even serious about uplifting the position of the woman within the home and in recognising her contribution to the national economy.

Historical issue

Assigning an economic value to women’s domestic labour is a long-standing debate. The international women’s movement has continuously debated the question and reached many important conclusions. It is now time for the larger society to engage with the movement’s propositions seriously. First, as a society we must learn to accept that there is sheer drudgery involved in day-to-day household work. The fact that such work is performed by a woman for her husband and other family members in the name of “care” and “nurturing” cannot be used to conceal that this is a thankless job which the majority of women feel burdened by. Just because some women do not have to enter the kitchen every day since their maid does the needful, we cannot write-off the helplessness with which the average woman walks towards her kitchen hearth, every day without fail. Here, there is no retirement age, no holiday, and definitely, no concept of overtime.

Second, we must realise that the process whereby women’s domestic labour has been rendered uneconomic activity, is a historical one. It was with the emergence of industrial society and the resulting separation between the home and the workplace that women’s housework lost value whereas men’s labouroutside the home fetched wages. Third, as a society we must accept that while many are uncomfortable with providing an economic value to women’s domestic labour, chores such as washing, cleaning, cooking, child rearing, etc., are already assigned such a value by the market when need be. After all, many middle-class homes buy such services through the hiring of maids, paying for playschool education, crèche facilities, etc. Fourth, women’s domestic labour must be accounted for in the economy precisely because it is one of the contributing forces in the reproduction of labour power expended by this country’s working masses. In fact, because a woman’s domestic labour is devalued by the economy, a man’s wage can be kept low. For example, if all families were to pay every day for services like washing, cooking, cleaning, etc., because women of the household did not perform such duties, the breadwinners of each family would need to be paid higher wages so that they can afford to buy such services off the market.

The solution

This being the reality surrounding women’s unpaid, domestic labour, where does the actual solution lie? Does it lie in redistributing limited family incomes between husband and wife, or, in redistributing the national income so as to enhance individual family incomes, and hence, the woman’s share within the improved family consumption? Importantly, while pressing for valuation of women’s domestic labour, the progressive women’s movement has always argued that if the value of unpaid housework is paid but does not add to or increase the total household income, such remuneration amounts to nothing.Hence, one of the most important conclusions reached on this question of unpaid domestic labour is that the state should pay for it, especially by providing women gainful employment, special funding, subsidised home appliances, free health care, etc. In this way, women would earn through an independent source of income and be freed of an overt dependence on the family structure for their consumption. There would also be a gradual undermining of the sexual division of labour which has resulted in women being tied to their homes and unable to do little else.

Of course, what has not won much attention so far is the fact that the proposed legislation posits wages for housework rather than employment for women as a long-term solution. Indeed, questions have been raised whether the proposed legislation is implementable, but not whether it does the needful. For example, will the government be able to put in place the required administrative machinery? How exactly is the value of women’s household work to be calculated, or simply put, how many bais will equal a wife? Will the number of family members she rears determine whether she is entitled to greater compensation? And what of widowed women who do not have a husband’s salary to draw on?

Absolves the state

However, implementation is far from the real problem with such legislation. Mechanisms can always be put in place if administrative sincerity prevails. The real problem with the Ministry’s endeavour is the rationale by which it is driven. The proposed legislation should be criticised because it absolves the Indian state of the responsibility it owes to women who contribute daily in sustaining the national economy. Indeed, if the proposed legislation is formulated and implemented, it will only result in undervaluing and underpaying women’s domestic labour.

To elucidate, if we actually sit down to calculate the cost of all the different household chores a wife does for free, the figure would easily touch amounts that in no way can be compensated by a small percentage of the husband’s wages. Furthermore, with varied family incomes, such legislation would result in women being remunerated differently for the same kind and same amount of domestic work. In the case of the average working class or lower-middle class family where the total family income is anywhere between Rs.2,000 to Rs.10,000 per month, such legislation would assign women a pittance as an economic value for their back-breaking housework. This pittance will not empower the woman as the total family income remains the same. Without a growth in the actual family income, neither will such families be able to change their consumption pattern, nor will the nature of household work change so as to enable women to do other things instead of just labouring at home.

Clearly then, the issue at stake is how to minimise housework for women so that they too can step out of the home to earn, to enhance family incomes and to have greater say in family as well as public matters. Greater employment generation for women by the state, and widespread introduction of facilities like crèches at all workplaces, subsidised home appliances, unhindered promotion post child birth/maternity leave, etc. are the need of the hour. While direct employment helps to create women who are financially independent, the provision of the latter helps women to remain in the labour market, despite starting a family. If the average woman is to be freed of the yoke of household drudgery then it is evidently the Indian state which has to pay by creating concrete conditions for her greater economic participation outside the home.

While there are so many fundamental rights denied for Women, it is a shame to notice IIT calls setting up for a beauty Parlor for women in their campus a student friendly gesture. It is even more shameful to notice that the so called ‘intelligentsia’ women folks seemed to be overwhelmed by this approval from the management.

While the women outside their (Brahmin) walls is fighting against consumerism, gender stereotyping, fighting for rights to women’s development, there has not been a single day without violence against women, I have not come across one sensible proposal from these IITian women calling to end these violence and discrimination against women, further to that they express their happiness and gratitude for branding them ‘girls’..

Thank you girls….you are the future of Indian Women’s Freedom movement………….

Girls are you aware of the this casteist discrimination in your institution………….

A ‘beautiful’ chance for girls at IIT-Madras – TOI

M Ramya, TNN Sep 25, 2012, 07.22AM IST

“Most of us head to salons at least once a month. This will make life very convenient for us,” said Radhika Menon (name changed), a resident student on campus.

Others said this would help them avoid fixing up appointments that most beauty salons insist on. “We would also like to get the girly stuff done at our convenience. After all, a trip to a parlour is also about relaxing,” said Shraddha Sagar, another resident.

A 24-hour canteen on the campus, a long-standing request, is set to come up soon. “Many of us study late into the night, particularly during quizzes (internal tests). Most times we are forced to go hungry as we can’t find anything edible. A 24-hour canteen is most welcome,” said second year BTech student Nikhil Sharma.

Some redundant facilities, such as the STD booth, will be removed, and the travel agency at the students’ facilities centre replaced with a railway tatkal counter. A power laundry service will come up in two weeks. A free photocopying facility was set up earlier this month.

After a ‘hunger strike’ at the Himalaya mess last academic year against the poor quality food, students have helped draw up a new tender process and introduced a performance audit clause according to which the payment for the caterers would be reduced in case there was a consistent negative feedback from students.

“All these efforts are being made to ensure that students can concentrate on academics. They should be able to have fun, and at the back of our mind is also the fact that students should feel that they can trust the faculty and institute management,” said a faculty member.

Call for Presentations: “A wanton woman is the figure of imperfection; in nature an ape, in quality a wagtail, in countenance a witch, and in condition a kind of devil”Nicholas Breton, 1615

Despite the attempts of feminists the conjunction between evil and the feminine seems unbroken. Established as secondary, derivative and hence inferior, women have been long suspected of being the source of human (though more often masculine) miseries, always in cahoots with the forces of evil and destruction. Paradoxically, at the same time, some have also been put on the pedestal and lauded as ideals of purity and dedication, yet these paragons only proved the rule that, on average, the feminine/woman equals imperfect and transgressive. Mischievous, beguiling, seductive, lascivious, unruly, carping, vengeful and manipulative – these are only a few of the epithets present in cultures and literatures across the world. In grappling with our understanding of what it is to be and do ‘evil’, the project aims to explore the possible sources of the fear and hatred of women and the feminine as well as their manifestations and pervasiveness across times, cultures and media.

The Steering Group particularly welcomes the submission of pre-formed panel proposals. Papers will also be considered on any related theme.

What to Send:300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 30th November 2012. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 15th February 2013. 300 word abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats with the following information and in this order:

Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

The conference is part of the At the Interface programme of research projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting. All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from interested delegates from the conference.

PILLU KHERA (JIND): Haryana is rapidly climbing up the gender crime graph in India. A week after the rape of a dalit schoolgirl rocked Hisar, another case of gangrape came to light on Wednesday – a 30 yeard old Dalit woman and mother of sic year old girl has been gang-raped in her home at gunpoint. The attack in the Jind district was also filmed on a phone camera and the MMS was circulated in her village.

The police said that two of the three alleged rapists have been arrested.. In the earlier case of gangrape of a 16-year-old girl in Hisar’s Dabra village, after which the victim’s father committed suicide, the main accused are yet to be nabbed. The Jind rape caught media attention on Wednesday after a few villagers protested against police inaction and approached the SSP.

According to police, the woman in Jind, originally a resident of Dharoli village, was gang-raped around noon when she was alone at her house. Her daughter returned from school and found the house bolted from inside and heard her mother cry. She peeped inside and saw her mother surrounded by the three men. Neighbours were alerted when the girl started screaming for help but the assailants escaped. The neighbours simply went back and didn’t call the cops.

Pillu Khera police said the victim came to the station that evening accompanied by her husband, a mason and gave a statement, naming two of the three youths as sons of Azad Singh, an upper caste man, and Mahavir Singh, a dalit from Dharoli. Head constable Mahender Singh said a case was registered under Section 376 (rape) of IPC and a manhunt has been launched.

Jind SSP Saurabh Singh said one of the accused Suraj Kumar, son of Mahavir Singh and Sandeep’s father Azad Singh were arrested on Wednesday. Azad has been accused of sheltering his son, who is absconding.

Regarding the MMS clip made by the accused, the SSP said, “As of now, the police do not have any material evidence. Still, we are invest-igating and if we get any proof, we will slap charges.” He said the victim’s family has also sought police protection on Wednesday.

Seven more arrested for Hisar gangrape

Meanwhile, Haryana police on Wednesday arrested seven people in connection with a 16-year-old dalit girl’s gangrape in Hisar district‘s Dabra village on September 9. But the main accused, Mahender, who is said to wield political clout in the region, remains on the run.

Police said the seven were arrested from Almora of Uttarakhand. “Nine accused in the case have been arrested now. Two of them were nabbed two days back. Rest of the accused will be arrested soon,” said DGP Ranjiv Singh Dalal. He said that the Hisar superintendent of police had been directed to approach the district and sessions judge with a request to set up a fast track court to hear the case.

There were abusive comments posted in the blog-post, but there were also concern and outcry expressed in the comments. I had written personally to those people who expressed their deep concerns about the steps taken by MASES, I even spoke to a person who said he is deeply hurt by this oppression by Management against further investigation.

From the day this news was posted I had been talking to many people and was exploring the next step. I was checking with few people to organize fact finding team. Each of them had their own Ideas and agendas which has actually put me in depression, because I could not arrive at a concrete plan. (The. no. of phone calls I have made to different people talking about this and wanting to go further is limitless). Later I was told that a Progressive organization and a student’s organization is also working on this case.

Yesterday I received a call from an important activist who shared with me that a protest is going to be staged which gave me some relief. Today I notice that a protest has been staged by ‘Aadhi Thamizhar Peravai’ outside collector’s office.

Protest seeking CB-CID probe into student’s death turns violent

Special ArrangementThe government bus that was set ablaze by miscreants at Ayyampalayam on Monday.

Police suspect that persons attached to Adi Tamilar Peravai could have torched it

Police chased away protestors belonging to the Adi Tamilar Peravai (ATP), who pelted stones on them at the demonstration held in front of the Collectorate in Namakkal on Monday.

Protestors led by ATP founder president R. Adhiyaman blocked vehicles on the busy Tiruchengode Road in front of the Collectorate, seeking CB-CID inquiry into the death of V. Gayathri (19), who was found hanging in her college hostel in Tiruchengode earlier this month.

About 800 people, including relatives of the girl and party cadre, staged a demonstration for which they had not obtained police permission.

Namakkal Deputy Superintendent of Police P. Annamalai tried to pacify the crowd, but in vain. Vehicle movement came to a standstill following the protest.

The demonstrators fled the spot after police arrested Adhiyaman and a few others. Police arrested 322 people, including 17 women. They were taken to a marriage hall at Nallipalayam. They were later released.

Meanwhile, a government bus attached to Kumbakonam Division that was parked for repair at Ayyampalayam, near the Collectorate, was torched by miscreants, who reportedly threw a petrol bomb into it.

Fire service personnel put out the fire, but by then half the bus was damaged.

The incident took place a couple of hours after the arrests. While no direct link between the arrests and the fire incident could be established, police suspect that persons attached to ATP could have torched it.

Kalaignar News T.V today morning reported a violence in Ajmer, Police had unleashed demolition of houses in a area in Ajmer. The residents of the house tried blocking that and opposing that. Police started beating up the people who were opposing it. Police unleashed brutal violence on a women who was trying to protect her house. The video showed the woman being dragged to ground, a women police half-sitting on the ground punching her continuously. The woman kept crying and shouting out of pain. There were many public witnessing the violence. Later the beaten up woman was taken away. Public was shattered out of fear.

Sexual exploitation and discrimination in the society operates on various platforms. It is being extremely revered and admired. Formation of a forum or a movement would enable a focused approach in oppose these exploitation. The founder believes that Marxist-Feminist-Socialist approach would help theoretically in de-constructing the existing Patriarchal Ideologies and guide us in constructive approach. The founder also adapts the preaching of Periyar and Ambedkar for emancipation of women. This is a Leftist, progressive movement to fight for egalitarian society. There are many political organization fighting for women’s rights, they are equally loaded with tons of issues in the society, it needs a special focus to liberate the mass from the media myth, with a feminist focus.

This movement was formed with an objective to create awareness, expose, fight against discrimination based on caste, creed, color, religion, gender and would like to work beyond these differences and being a part of a political party, NGO etc., The focus of this organization is to expose, create awareness, fight against Gender stereotyping, gender discrimination, sexual exploitation in Media. It would also fight against or support other discrimination issues by joining hands with other existing organization or fight individually as per the demand of the situation.

3. To identify, point out the Patriarchal, male chauvinistic, exploitative influences in the sexual freedom thoughts recommended for women and liberate women and the society as a whole from media myth.

5. While every institutional approach fails – To Propagate especially to Women, suggesting them to boycott such people who have humiliated, exploited, contributed in indecent representation of women in Media and in general public. The suggestion would be extended to the society as a whole.

6. To demand economical justice for subalterns.

Dangers of Male dominant Obscenity:

1. Women and gender queer are humiliated. They are being objectified as mere sexual Objects.

5. People’s intellect are captivated and directed towards sexual consumerism and are distracted from social consciousness. (The mass media representation of women plays an important role in social perception of women. There are sexist, racist notion, humiliation based on physical challenge etc. our movement would concentrate with special focus in exposing such representation. We would like to document each and every discriminating representation and sexual exploitation and initiate a debate on it, demand remedial action wherever possible).

6. We would also support other such organizations.

List of few initiatives to be taken:

1. To work in the ideological sphere and expose the sexual exploitation and sexist representation in Mass Media. This is the primary focus. If other issues are brought to the knowledge of the movement and help sought, we will do our best to help the needy.

2. To debate and draft the opposing tools and modes.

3. To list out requirements based on the opposing method.

4. To distribute the responsibilities amongst volunteers.

5. To draft the final Manifesto for the movement.

6. To fight against humiliation of physically challenged or differently abled people and children.

11. To run a blog (this is a zero fund movement, so website etc is not affordable) to disseminate awareness and knowledge about the above listed discrimination and movement initiatives.

Primary importance is given to documentation – request is made to supporters, volunteers to contribute to the movement by sharing content / news releases / articles / pictures / movies / posters / incidents of such exploitation. You could spread a word about the movement to your circle.

It’s been 6 months since the launch of this movement, it takes baby steps. We did a launch program on 10th March 2012. I have no resource to hold monthly meetings, run the organization in a typical way. It’s purely an individual effort and work, with a moral support from network of online community.

The movement believes in democratic speech and would welcome contributing articles from all except the ones which disseminate right wing-male chauvinistic ideologies.

This is not an NGO, Political Party, Alliance of any Political Group etc., As an Individual I (kotravai) started this Movement out of my own concern and am seeking help from People who have similar concern.

P.S:

This is just a preliminary draft and suggestions are welcome.

There is no Hierarchy in this organization. The founder is the moderator; we welcome coordinators, consultants and volunteers to join us.